This essay is about Stage 4 of our trip to England (I wrote about Stage 1 on June 9, about Stage 2 on June 16, and about Stage 3 on June 29). The image above is a snip from my detailed planning spreadsheet, showing where we’ll be from September 15 through September 20.
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First, a little about the place we’ll be staying.
Here’s what the listing says about this property:
The Hutch is a totally self contained, newly renovated annex attached to the back of our house. We are situated in the heart of the village, a short walk from a shop, cafe and the a village pub. We are only 13 miles from Cambridge, so perfect for anyone visiting or working in Cambridge or the surrounding area.
The space
We have renovated The Hutch with loving care and attention to detail and to the highest possible standard.
The accommodation includes:
A bedroom with a zip and link bed giving the option of super king size bed or twin beds, a chest of drawers and hooks and coat hangers for hanging clothes. We provide two pillows per guest (duck feather & down pillows and luxury anti-allergy microfibre pillows).
A bright airy sitting room with french doors leading to a patio. There is a sofa, chair & footstool and TV in the sitting area and a table and two chairs providing an ideal work or dining space.
There is a separate kitchen with built in oven & hob, microwave, fridge, washing machine, Nespresso coffee machine.
The bathroom has large walk in shower, mirror with shaver socket and light, a large basin and toileting.
Within The Hutch you'll also find an iron and ironing board, hairdryer, all bedlinen and towels (which will be changed if you stay for longer than a week) and a good wifi connection.
All household items such as hand soap, washing up liquid, tea towels, kitchen roll, toilet paper, laundry powder etc. are provided.
We provide a 'Welcome Pack' breakfast. This includes milk, coffee, tea (inc herbal), muesli/granola, yoghurts, bagels, spread, jam & marmalade .
Outside the living room there is a south facing patio area for guests to use. There are chairs and a coffee table so you can relax and enjoy a coffee or a glass of wine.
Off road parking for one car is available outside the property.
The Hutch is located within our garden. You might meet our friendly dogs, as well as chickens and geese.
I think we will be well-accommodated here. This will be a lovely place to spend our last several days in England.
We’ll be visiting several villages in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, and Essex Counties from this centrally-located site.
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
The village of Stevenage in Hertfordshire County is about 18 miles (25 minutes) from The Hutch. This is the church we’ll be visiting there:
This is probably one of the most well documented churches we’ll be visiting on this trip. This is what a British History website says about this church https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol3/pp139-148#p32:
The earliest portion of the existing church is the tower, which was built in the first half of the 12th century, and appears to have formed the tower and west porch combined of the original church, which probably consisted of a chancel, nave and tower. Early in the 13th century it is probable that the whole church except the tower was rebuilt and aisles added. The present nave is of this date. The chancel now standing was built about 1330, and the aisles were widened to their present dimensions at the same time. A doorway in the east wall of the tower above the low-pitched roof seems to indicate that the roof of the 14th century was of a pitch high enough to inclose it. The present roof with the clearstory is of the 15th century, when the nave arcades were rebuilt from the capitals upwards, the pillars with their bases being of the earlier date. The bell chamber of the tower was also added or rebuilt in the 15th century. The south porch, if not actually modern, has been wholly restored, and the south transept is modern.
The website goes on for several pages, describing all of the elements of the church. It will be a very useful source for us as we visit this village.
William Pratt
My paternal 11th great-grandfather William Pratt (1562-1629) was the Rector of Stevenage Parish for 30 years. William attended Emmanuel College in Cambridge and was installed as rector of St. Nichols in 1598. There is a plaque on the church wall in his honor:
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I am descended from William and Elizabeth’s oldest son, John, who came to Massachusetts in 1633 and was with Thomas Hooker’s party that went to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1639. He is identified as one of the Founders of Hartford.
Walkern, Hertfordshire
Walkern is only about four miles from Stevenage, so we’re going to try to visit both of these villages on the same day. I’m not sure we’ll make it, because there’s a lot I want to see in both locations.
Here is the church we’ll be visiting in Walkern:
Here is part of what a local history website says about this church http://www.walkernhistorysociety.co.uk/index.php/history-and-timeline/buildings/churches/st-marys/:
Walkern church is interesting, as are many of our parish churches, because it has a history of continuous change. Although it has a Saxon wall it is not a Saxon church, and although it has a Norman south doorway and two Norman arches it is not a typical Norman church. There is 13th, 14th and 15th century work, and the chancel was rebuilt in the latter half of the 19th century.
Daniel Gorsuch
My paternal 12th great-grandfather Daniel Gorsuch (1569-1638) and his family are associated with this church. Here’s what I have learned about this:
Before a restoration in 1882, the east window of the chancel once had the King's Arms in the middle, while on the right were the “Arms of Gorsuch,” with a Crest, a Coronet and a demi-lion.
Above the piscine and sedilia, and high in a niche, is a monument to Daniel and his wife Alice Gorsuch. They are seen kneeling upon cushions facing one another at a desk with an open book upon it. The epitaph above the memorial reads:
Daniel Gorsuch Citizen & Mercer Of London In Ye Month of July 1638 Cavsed Ys Tombe To Be Made For Himself & His Wife Alice By Whom He Had Three Children John Katherine & Mary His Age Being Yn 69 Years 6 Monthes And Odd Dayes, Who Died The Eighth Daye of October Ao DO 1638."
I am descended from their son John mentioned in the transcription above. John is identified as Rector of St. Mary’s in the 1630s.
Daniel seems to have lived a prosperous life as a mercer (textile merchant) in London after inheriting property from Robert Hilson, a mercer to whom Daniel had been apprenticed after his father’s death when Daniel was still a minor. With the proceeds from his business, Daniel purchased the Rectory at Walkern and gave it to his son John as the rector in 1632. Daniel and John are both buried in St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard Cemetery in Walkern.
John Gorsuch
The story of my paternal 10th great-grandfather John Gorsuch (1609-1647) is more dramatic than his father’s story. After gaining several degrees from Pembroke College, Cambridge, John became the Rector at St. Mary’s. He married Anne Lovelace in 1628, and they had 11 or 12 children, including my 10th great-grandmother Ann Gorsuch, who was born in 1639 in Walkern.
There is a lot of detailed and sometimes conflicting information about John Gorsuch. The consensus seems to be that as a staunch Loyalist he was persecuted by Oliver Cromwell, and the parliamentary party filed charges against him in 1642. In 1647, when Mr. Simon Smeath, Vicar of Weston (next to Walkern) came to claim the rectory of Walkern from John Gorsuch, John attempted to flee but died in the attempt. Cambridge University records states that he was “ejected” in 1642 and was “smothered in an Haymow.” Nobody is quite sure what that means, other than that he was in effect killed by Cromwell and his crusade against the established church.
After John’s death, his wife Anne and several of her children to leave England for Virginia. John and Anne’s daughter Anne Gorsuch (1639-1702) married Captain Thomas Todd in Gloucester County, Virginia, in 1657. Her descendants (probably) include both the Todds and the Lees of Virginia. I say “probably,” because this lineage depends on a somewhat shaky connection through a purported daughter Isabella Minor Todd. I am also (probably) descended from Isabella, and I’m having trouble documenting this.
Side Note: If you recognize the name Gorsuch, you may be thinking of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. My 11th great-grandfather John Gorsuch was Neil’s 9th great-grandfather; that makes Neil my 10th cousin 2x removed. I’m sorry.
Another Side Note: Anne Lovelace (John’s wife) is identified as a descendant of the Emperor Charlemagne. So there.
Woodditton, Cambridgeshire, UK
Woodditton is about 30 miles (38 minutes) from The Hutch. This is the church we’ll be visiting there:
According to a local history, the Church stands three-quarters of a mile from the main village center and is set in peaceful rural surroundings with fine old horse-chestnut trees growing in the churchyard.
Its origins go back to the 12th century when it is believed to have been a wooden building but evidence has been uncovered pointing to the existence of a small monastery on the site, pre-dating the church. Like most old churches it has been altered or added to over the centuries but the pointed arch doors and windows date the present structure to the Early Gothic period.
Inside there is a fine rood screen, separating the nave from the chancel. At the foot of the tower are iron gates with brass bosses. There are some alabaster figures dating from the 13th century that were disfigured during the Cromwell purges. In the south aisle are brasses of Henry English and his wife dated 1393.
Thomas Kilbourne
My paternal 10th great-grandfather Thomas Kilbourne was born in Wood Ditton and his parents were buried there. He served as the churchwarden of the parish of Wood Ditton in 1632. Just a few years later, in 1635, he emigrated to Massachusetts on the ship Increase, and soon moved to Connecticut, where he became one of the founders of the town of Wethersfield. One source suggests that he lived in Wethersfield, telling the story of his death in the following fashion https://www.geni.com/people/Thomas-Kilbourne/6000000005051948312:
It is believed that Thomas Kilbourn met his demise on April 23, 1637, in Wethersfield, just two years after his arrival in the U.S. Two daughters of Thomas Swayne, another colonist, were captured and carried off by Pequot Indians. Before they got very far, they were confronted by a rescue party. Six of the men were massacred. Thomas Kilbourne owned land adjacent to the river in the approximate location of the massacre, and it is supposed that he was one of the rescuers who was murdered.
The massacre led to a bloody battle between the British and the Pequot Indiana, known as the Pequot War. The tribe had more than 2,000 when the English settlers arrived. They were reduced to only a few hundred."
I wouldn’t have thought much about the fairly unremarkable English part of this story, except for the fact that one of Thomas’s descendants was Annie Kilbourne Kilmer, mother of Sergeant Joyce Kilmer, the famed author of the poem Trees who was killed at the Battle of the Marne in World War I. In the early years of the 20th century, Annie Kilbourne Kilmer had begun to research the family of her ancestors, including Thomas Kilbourne of Wood Ditton. She traveled with her son Joyce to Woodditton, and visited the village several times over the years.
She committed to funding a Kilburn Memorial Window to be placed in the Church of St. Mary’s, Wood Ditton, in honor of her distant ancestor. This book explains her fascination with Wood Ditton and her decision to erect a monument in the church https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b252511&view=1up&seq=77&skin=2021&q1=Wood%20Ditton.
The pamphlet documents her obsession with the church and her decision to fund the window there. The program for the 1905 dedication ceremony for the Thomas Kilbourne Memorial Window is in this little pamphlet, and it contains a great deal of information about our common ancestor.
Cranfield, Bedfordshire
Our next village, Cranfield in Bedfordshire, is 31 miles (49 minutes) from The Hutch. This is the church we’ll be visiting in Cranfield.
Building of this church began in the 13th century. The original Bell Tower was added to in the 15th century. There has probably been a clock in this tower since the early 17th century. This website provides a lot more information on the history and architecture of this church https://www.cranfieldchurch.org/history.
George Lawton
My paternal 9th great-grandfather George Lawton (1607-1693) has deep familiar roots in Cranfield. I haven’t found a plaque or a stained glass window dedicated to him in this church, but his roots are clearly here, going back several generations. His father (also named George) his grandfather Thomas, his great-grandfather (also named Thomas), his second great-grandfather Richard, and generations beyond him lived and died in Cranfield. None of them were rector of the church or served in any other official capacity.
George married in Cranfield sometime before 1636, and George came to New England with his brother Thomas sometime before 1638. He is identified as one of the incorporators of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He married Elizabeth Hazard in Rhode Island in 1643, and their 10 children became the ancestors of the well-known Hazard and Perry families of Rhode Island. George was one of the original settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, in March 1662.
Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Our next visit will be to the city of Norwich in Norfolk County, about 75 miles (90 minutes) northeast of The Hutch. This will be one of the longest drives of our trip. With about 150,000 inhabitants, Norwich is one of the largest cities we’ll visit on this trip. The location I’m most interested in is St. Stephens Church.
The first church on this site appeared sometime in the 12th century, and some parts of the current building were in place by the early 15th century. The church underwent major renovation in the early 16th century. Much of the original stained glass of St Stephen’s Church was destroyed during the English Civil War when a nearby powder magazine exploded. The royalist mayor of Norwich was taken into custody and the powder magazine was ignited in the ensuing riot. The explosion destroyed the Committee House and shattered the windows of churches for several miles around. This website provides much more information about this church https://www.ststephensnorwich.org/history-2/.
Henry Pendleton
My paternal 9th great-grandfather Henry Pendleton (1614-1682) had deep roots in Norwich; the records for at least two generations before him show connections to this church in Norwich. Once again, there are no plaques of stained glass windows in their honor, but I want to visit this location because it is connected to one of the Virginia families in my lineage. Two of Henry’s sons – Nathaniel and Philip – first came to Virginia as indentured servants in 1674. Their indenture was apparently not menial; Philip, for example, served as a clerk in the country record office. Nathaniel, who was a clergyman, soon died. Philip, a teacher, returned to England in 1680 and apparently married there. His wife soon died, however, and he returned to Virginia. He soon married Isabella Hurt, and they had 12 children, including two of my ancestors – their son Henry and their daughter Elizabeth. Philip lived first in New Kent County, Virginia, before moving to nearby Caroline County and then to King and Queen County.
Stonham Aspal, Suffolk County, UK
This very old village is also pretty far away from The Hutch – about 66 miles (75 minutes) due each of The Hutch, just north of Ipswich. This is the church we’ll be visiting:
Here’s a little of what the church website says about the church (you can read more here) https://wingfieldfamilysociety.org/churches/st-mary-st-lambert-stonham-aspal/:
Much of the fabric of the church dates from the 14th century, although the core of the chancel may be earlier. The Font bowl and the effigy of a knight in the chancel are 13th century and there was probably a church on this spot long before then. During the 15th century several of the windows were replaced, the nave was widened southwards, the clerestory and the north porch were erected.
It apparently is sometimes called The Village Church. You can read more about this church here: https://attheendofasuffolklane.blogspot.com/2022/04/st-mary-and-st-lambert-church-stonham.html.
George Packard
My paternal 11th great-grandfather George Packard (1575-1623) was probably from Stonham Aspal. I say “probably” because there is some disagreement among genealogists about the origins of the Packard family in England. I’m going to go with the information provided on the website “Packed with Packards” – maybe I’ll find more information while we’re in the village. https://packedwithpackards.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/the-red-english-house-samuel-was-born-in/.
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According to this source (and some others), George lived in this house and his children were born here – including his son Samuel, who was my 10th great grandfather. Samuel came to Massachusetts in 1638, and lived the rest of his life in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
After this leg of our trip, we’re heading back to Heathrow, where we’ll stay overnight on Wednesday, September 20, and catch a plane home on Wednesday, September 21. What a trip!
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What a wonderful trip you have planned. Enjoy every special moment.
I wouldn't mind staying at The Hutch. It looks very inviting.